A blended learning approach to introductory
accounting
Accounting Made Easy
Guy Baker
Professor, Hospitality Coordinator & Co-op Coordinator,
School of Tourism
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
1
Agenda
•
Challenges
•
How it works
•
Ease of transition for instructors
•
Learning Management System
•
Results
3
AME System
What are the challenges facing students who do
not have a financial background?
The Gap
Would you have any idea what this puzzle represents
without the whole picture in front of you?
AME System
Notice how quickly your frame of reference changed
when you saw the map
Most students see accounting the same way
NO CONTEXT
Accounts Payables
Direct Labour
10
Common Challenges
It’s tough to teach a subject:
1. When the student has no business frame of
reference.
2. When the subject gets a bad rap even
before they commence class.
It’s a pity since basic accounting acumen
is an essential life skill.
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Abstract to Concrete
We tend to remember:
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
90% of what we do
This system is about experiencing accounting
Converting abstract to concrete
Converted to an online application
Effective but
logistically challenging
Multi Sensory Tools
How the program works
Students are provided with a preplanned section
to complete online prior to attending class.
Learning objectives are repeated and reinforced in
class using a textbook and other teachers resources.
Computers are not used in class – no mandatory lab time
Step-by-step process
Computer
Accounting
Technical
Accounting
Commences with personal
statements for context
Business
cases
Controls
Financial
Analysis
Trade Math
Cash Flow
Business
Personal
GAAP, ethics and
management reporting
Some more
complex
transactions are
included in this
section…bank
reconciliation,
petty cash,
payroll etc.
Accounting is abstract for the newly initiated
Multi Sensory Pedagogical Tools
Abstract to concrete
Audio. visual, color coded, tactile
500
500
500
500
Increase & decrease is
used in conjunction
with the board.
The Balance Sheet
The Balance Sheet is used to
record what you OWN versus
what you OWE.
Record all the assets
Voice and text
prompts
PERSONAL BALANCE
ASSETS (what we OWN)
+
DE
DECREASE (CR)
INCREASE (DR)
CASH IN THE BANK
-
15,000
DE
15,000
DECREASE (CR)
INCREASE (DR)
+
100,000
VALUE OF HOME
-
100,000
DECREASE (CR)
INCREASE (DR)
+
DE
AUTOMOBILE
-
5,000
INCREASE (DR)
+
CONTENTS OF HOME
Original
Net Worth
5,000
INCREASE (DR)
+
Pe
DECREASE (CR)
DECREASE (CR)
EQUITY IN BUSINESS
-
PLUS
Surplus or
Deficit from
Income
Statement
Record what you owe
Record $80,000 on the board
representing the value of the
MORTGAGE on your home.
80,000
Is this an increase or decrease?
Increase
Decrease

Net Worth
The difference between what you own
and what you owe is called your NET
WORTH
40,000
Creating the value & purpose of accounting
The principle of Net Worth is what drives our personal and
business economic lives.
Business is about increasing net worth, hence the importance
of using the accounting system to measure activities that
impact it.
The Role of the Income Statement
How much are you worth?
3,000
How much are you now worth?
$40,000
$43,000

Newton's 3rd Law
For every action
There is an equal
and opposite:
• Reaction
• Transaction
• Financial
consequence
You have a choice
Temporary Account
Change your net
worth each time
Another word for becoming
richer is “revenue”.
Revenue recognition
Recognize an increase to net worth
3,000
3,000
Paying Expenses
Now it’s time to pay various cash expenses in
the amount of $2,000
2,000
$ 18,000
$ 100,000
$ 80,000
$ 5,000
Take $2,000 from your bank account and
place it back in the tray & complete your
T-account entry
2,000
$ 40,000
The role of the income statement
What happened to your Net Worth?
Click on the correct answer
Did it:
a. Increase
$ 18,000
b. Decrease
$ 100,000
$ 80,000

c. Stay the same
$ 5,000
- $ 2,000
$ 40,000
Once again, you have a choice. Either
decrease your Net Worth now, or maintain
a temporary record called an EXPENSE.
[ It is common for students to want to
decrease revenues]
The role of the income statement
Place $2,000 on miscellaneous expenses. Remember that by placing a token
ON the board you are INCREASING your T-account
$ 3,000
2,000
$ 18,000
$ 100,000
$ 80,000
2,000
$ 5,000
- $ 2,000
$ 40,000
2,000
Another word for
becoming poorer is
“EXPENSE”.
Ending the period
3,000
Add all the
revenues
2,000
Add all the
expenses
1,000
What does
the surplus
do to your
net worth?
$ 18,000
$ 100,000
$ 80,000
$ 5,000
$ 40,000
$ 41,000
Ending the period
Once you have
updated your net
worth, clear the
income statement
$ 18,000
$ 100,000
$ 80,000
and commence a
new accounting
period.
$ 5,000
$ 41,000
41,000
The role of the income statement
$ 18,000
$ 100,000
$ 80,000
In other words, the income
statement is part of your net
Worth which provides a summary
of which revenues and which
expenses caused your net worth
to increase or decrease.
Revenues were $3,000
$ 5,000
$ 41,000
Expenses were $2,000
The difference is $1,000
The Accounting Equation
Students will continually see the logic of the Accounting Equation
125,000 = 122,000
The Accounting Equation
Back in Balance
38
The power of AME
Less than 10 minutes
1. The role of the balance sheet
2. The role of the income statement
3. T-Accounts
4. The logic of double entry
5. The accounting period
6. An introduction to the accounting equation
Raising the bar
Powerful principles are taught in a logical manner
Keep reinforcing previous lessons before
introducing new principles using clickers
Financial Analysis
Financial Analysis
Linking ratios
to operations
Financial Analysis
Hot spots
Students Resource
There is little if any text that is not
useful to this program.
The layout is extremely easy to read
especially for ESL.
The pedagogical tools are colour coded for ease
of reference.
Some highlights of special design features of the
book…
Pedagogy to hands on application
45
Easy to understand diagrams
Three ways
to recognize
an expense.
46
Finding the “sticky” points
Online and textbook exercises are scaled up which allows
both student and instructor to evaluate the level of
comprehension.
Transactions in context
Student will always see the
whole enterprise to maintain
context to each transaction in
relation to revenue, expense
recognition, adjustments and
cash flow.
Easy to read PDF summaries
50
Instructors Binder
1. Instruction to each chapter
2. Objectives
3. Lesson Guidelines & lesson plan
4. The online section that must be completed by the
student before class
5. Colour hard copy of all the online slides
6. Student book answer key
7. Tabs to insert your own notes
Instructors Binder
8. Test Bank - Multiple choice questions, Exercises,
Projects, Class Tests, Mid Term Exams & Final Exams
9. Slide rules for each student &
instructor
10. CD with Power Point Slides and
detailed animations
Unique Partnership
Self paced online
independent learning to
teach principles.
Lessons and quizzes.
Well structured lessons
to reinforced in class by
applying the principles to
practical applications
Controlled and
monitored
progress
True lesson before
attending class
Reinforced in class –
workbook without computers
54
Login Screen
55
List of Topics….Open Source - Moodle
56
Quiz Results
Download results and print
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
57
Activity
Students who complete topics perform better in quizzes
58
Activity
59
60
Failure rate/drop out rate
It is not unusual for 35 – 50% of an intro accounting
class to either drop out or fail the course.
When using this system, instructors have experienced
as little as 15% failure rate and more than 70% class
average marks.
Results
ESL students also find the course easy
Readability grade level = 8.2 as compared to 11.4 for traditional
textbooks
In-class interaction increased
Due to double lesson (online and in-class)
Due to online quizzes to test them
With reinforcements quizzes using clickers
63
Before completion of
the course
 44% perceived
accounting to be easy or
at least possible to
understand
 36% believed that it
should be very difficult
and impossible to
understand
After completion of the
course
 84% believed that it is a
logical and easy subject
or at least possible to
understand
 8% believed that it is a
difficult subject and
impossible to
understand
64
Q&A
A patented solution to teach accounting
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